"I remember Pamela Anderson. I can kind of remember David Hasselhoff," the actor admits on 'Late Night.'

"We want to make it badass," he told Seth Meyerson Tuesday's Late Night. "That's what Dwayne [Johnson] wants — he's so cool, he's like the coolest dude in the world. I'm gonna have to keep up with that guy!"

The long-developing project will be directed bySeth Gordon and will likely start production in February 2016.

The story centers on a by-the-book and very serious lifeguard (Johnson) who is forced to team up with a young rule-flouting hothead (Efron) in order to save their beach from environmental destruction at the hands of an oil tycoon. Damian Shannon and Mark Swift wrote the most recent draft.

Of the reboot's plot, the We Are Your Friends actor said, "We want to keep the integrity" while also sharing a new narrative, and "I think we're finding that combo."

And he admitted he wasn't necessarily cast for his personal attachment to the internationally beloved show. "I have vague memories of it being on TV — I remember Pamela Anderson. I can kind of remember David Hasselhoff." Efron said, laughing with Meyers about the series' signature slow-motion running.